[ExI] Space Elevator

[Keith Henson]

On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 9:34 AM, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote:
> Keith wrote
>
>  > The unobtainium part of the space elevator is the cable.  There are
>  > persistent rumors that the University of Cambridge has demonstrated 20
>  > GPa nanotube yarn, the report has been expected to be published in
>  > science for a few months, but nothing has happened.  Even 20 GPa isn't
>  > strong enough, but it's getting there.
>
>  I've never looked into this or studied it at all.  But what about this?
>  Just as we launch today's spaceships from the bottom of a big
>  airliner or a B52, why not tether the lower end to the highest
>  flying dirigible we can find?  Cable still too heavy?

Think about it.  The highest you can go with a balloon is about
100,000 feet.  That's 20 miles out of 22,000.

The Wikipedia article has the space elevator math worked out.

Keith